PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 2019

Restrictions on the online exercise of civic freedoms are a serious problem across the globe. ICNL’s monitoring of the rights of freedom of assembly, association, and expression has revealed an array of laws and government actions that limit the exercise of these fundamental freedoms on the internet. ICNL’s findings reinforce those of the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, whose recent report addresses the opportunities and challenges brought by digital technologies to the exercise of these rights.

ICNL’s Civic Freedom Monitor details the state of civic freedoms, including their exercise online, in 54 countries. In this inaugural publication of the Civic Freedom Digest, ICNL highlights some of the key challenges that digital technologies pose to civic freedom, as well as successful civil society efforts to combat these threats.